Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest heavy-oil producer, reported a narrower first-quarter loss as production volumes met forecasts and costs dropped.

The net loss shrank to $105 million, or 10 cents a share, from $252 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier, the Calgary-based company said Thursday in a statement. Excluding one-time items, the per-share loss from operations was 50 cents, beating the 58-cent loss expected by analysts, according to the average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Canadian Natural has lowered costs, slowed drilling and reduced salaries as it seeks to avoid job cuts in the slump, and remains focused on completing expansions of the Horizon oilsands mining project this year and next. The company turned off some unprofitable natural-gas supplies in the first quarter and reduced heavy-oil volumes as it conducted repairs at its Kirby and Primrose East projects.

“Along with a cost-focused culture and track record of solid execution, one of the things we like about CNQ is its upstream growth and emerging free cash flow generation once its Horizon oilsands expansion bears fruit in late 2017,” Greg Pardy, an analyst at RBC Dominion Securities in Toronto, wrote in an April 6 note. “CNQ’s most important potential catalyst revolves around operating performance at its Horizon oilsands project.”

Production fell to the equivalent of 844,531 barrels a day in the quarter from 898,053 barrels a day a year earlier, according to the statement. West Texas Intermediate crude averaged US$33.63 a barrel, down 31 per cent from the same period last year.

Canadian Natural reported the results before the start of regular trading on North American markets. The stock, which has 18 buy and eight hold recommendations from analysts, closed little changed on Wednesday at $35.94 in Toronto.

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